Catholic church leaders say they are not surprised by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s drop in popularity.
They were reacting to Sunday’s results of a Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) survey showing Duterte’s net satisfaction rating fell from June’s “very good rating” to “good”.
According to the third quarter survey, which was conducted from September 23 to 27, 67 percent of adult Filipinos were satisfied with Duterte’s performance, 14 percent were undecided and 19 percent were dissatisfied.
Compared to June’s +66 or very good rating, the recent survey showed a net satisfaction rating of +48. This is classified by SWS as good.
According to the survey the net trust in Duterte also declined.
One church leader said he had expected a lower satisfaction rating.
“I expected it to be even lower in view of the deep dissatisfaction of the people with Duterte’s pro-death dictatorial administration,” Bishop Arturo Bastes said.
He said social unrest is building and foreign investors are shying away from the Philippines because of human rights violations.
“Slowly the economic gains of our country are eroding because of [our] bad international reputation. I hope that we will not regress and become once again the economic basket case of Asia.”
Bastes said even foreign leaders are “jeering” at the Philippines because of the present administration’s policies.
He said the survey result should serve as a “wake-up call” to the president and his supporters, especially as the poorest Filippinos surveyed had expressed the deepest disappointment with Duterte’s administration.
Another Catholic priest, Father Jerome Secillano, thinks the president’s net satisfaction and trust rating will continue to go down unless Duterte makes changes.
“It will continue to go down unless he shapes up especially on issues of corruption, extrajudicial killings and police impunity,” he said.
Source
- Manila Bulletin
- Inquirer.net
- Image: ibon.org
